Hello, NSCG readers! I have recently decided to review Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book I had noticed a few times in bookstores, but never picked up. The book has mixed reviews on Amazon, many of the critical reviews coming from hard-core Jane Austen fans who do not like seeing her most famous work “defiled”. Since I had just read Sense and Sensibility and consider myself an Austen fan, I decided I would read this book, no matter how many strange looks I got from people who saw the cover. Therefore, on to the review:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen) takes the basic plot of P&P and adds in—guess what?—zombies. Currently, England is being overrun by the flesh-eating, dim-witted monsters. People are infected and turn into zombies everyday, and there are few people that have the skills to do anything about it. These few people include Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, all who have traveled to China with their father to learn how to defend themselves and fend off zombies. The plot continues as it did in P&P, with Lizzy being rejected by Mr. Darcy, Jane falling for Mr. Bingley, Lizzy refusing to marry Mr. Collins (who is then quickly snatched up by Charlotte), Wickham sweet-talking his way into everyone’s good graces, Lizzy meeting Lady Catherine (and Darcy!) during her trip to visit Charlotte, and so on, except zombies (and even ninjas!) pop up every once in a while. I advise reading P&P before this book so you can focus on the new aspects of this book (the zombies) and not have to worry about keeping the plot straight. Plus, then you will notice the subtle (not really) changes to many of the famous quotes from P&P. For example, the first sentence: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” changes to “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a zombie in possession of brains, must be in want of more brains”. This quote-changing-for-effect is used repeatedly throughout the book, as is crude humor. These jokes may be funny the first couple of times, but doubles-entendres on the word “balls” can get old quickly.
The zombies definitely add a new twist to this beloved story. Whether it helps or hurts the book is up to you. It may be strange at first to imagine the five Bennet sisters as warriors, especially timid Jane and intellectual Mary, but somehow Grahame-Smith gets this to work (at least for a little while). Reading about Lizzy beheading a zombie with a swift kick or Lydia cutting a zombie in half is good fun at first, especially when the sisters work together to take down the monsters. However, the book starts to go downhill when it crosses the line. The sisters seem to have an unlimited amount of gruesome weapons, including guns, knives, swords, and much more, and they seem to relish using them. Lizzy even seems insane at one point when she kills a ninja, rips its heart out, and then takes a bite of it. However, the book is highly entertaining when it sticks to the plot, adding only small details that bring new humor to the story. For example, Charlotte may have a devastating secret; Darcy is the best zombie killer in the county; Bingley (and certainly his sisters) have never touched a gun; Wickham has a tragic accident; and Lady Catherine (a highly esteemed zombie killer herself) was trained in Japan, has her own personal ninjas, and looks down upon anyone who was trained in the Orient (China). The book falls apart a little near the end, where the craziness and gruesomeness reach new heights (ex: heart-eating), but overall, I really enjoyed reading through this silly parody. My advice: Don’t take it too seriously. If you do, you will probably end up hating it. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy a little romance/zombie horror for a while.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen) takes the basic plot of P&P and adds in—guess what?—zombies. Currently, England is being overrun by the flesh-eating, dim-witted monsters. People are infected and turn into zombies everyday, and there are few people that have the skills to do anything about it. These few people include Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, all who have traveled to China with their father to learn how to defend themselves and fend off zombies. The plot continues as it did in P&P, with Lizzy being rejected by Mr. Darcy, Jane falling for Mr. Bingley, Lizzy refusing to marry Mr. Collins (who is then quickly snatched up by Charlotte), Wickham sweet-talking his way into everyone’s good graces, Lizzy meeting Lady Catherine (and Darcy!) during her trip to visit Charlotte, and so on, except zombies (and even ninjas!) pop up every once in a while. I advise reading P&P before this book so you can focus on the new aspects of this book (the zombies) and not have to worry about keeping the plot straight. Plus, then you will notice the subtle (not really) changes to many of the famous quotes from P&P. For example, the first sentence: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” changes to “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a zombie in possession of brains, must be in want of more brains”. This quote-changing-for-effect is used repeatedly throughout the book, as is crude humor. These jokes may be funny the first couple of times, but doubles-entendres on the word “balls” can get old quickly.
The zombies definitely add a new twist to this beloved story. Whether it helps or hurts the book is up to you. It may be strange at first to imagine the five Bennet sisters as warriors, especially timid Jane and intellectual Mary, but somehow Grahame-Smith gets this to work (at least for a little while). Reading about Lizzy beheading a zombie with a swift kick or Lydia cutting a zombie in half is good fun at first, especially when the sisters work together to take down the monsters. However, the book starts to go downhill when it crosses the line. The sisters seem to have an unlimited amount of gruesome weapons, including guns, knives, swords, and much more, and they seem to relish using them. Lizzy even seems insane at one point when she kills a ninja, rips its heart out, and then takes a bite of it. However, the book is highly entertaining when it sticks to the plot, adding only small details that bring new humor to the story. For example, Charlotte may have a devastating secret; Darcy is the best zombie killer in the county; Bingley (and certainly his sisters) have never touched a gun; Wickham has a tragic accident; and Lady Catherine (a highly esteemed zombie killer herself) was trained in Japan, has her own personal ninjas, and looks down upon anyone who was trained in the Orient (China). The book falls apart a little near the end, where the craziness and gruesomeness reach new heights (ex: heart-eating), but overall, I really enjoyed reading through this silly parody. My advice: Don’t take it too seriously. If you do, you will probably end up hating it. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy a little romance/zombie horror for a while.
You can buy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies here.
P.S. If you liked this book, check out Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters and Jane Austen!
~Angela
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